Studio Blog

As a tumbling coach, I agree with Coach Sahil on the majority of his post. Loved this one and I wanted to share it with you! 

— Coach Mario

So, I once had a mother rush me at the grocery store asking questions like: Can you teach my daugther how to do a back handspring before tryouts? Will it take more than one lesson? Why book a private lesson? Is it expensive? She said she heard I was just the man she needed to ask. I remember reading an article not too long ago titiled "Getting The Most Out Of Tumbling Private Lessons". So with a little help from Coach, I have a pretty good response for you.

Private lessons are the best for focused learning and accomplishing tumbling skills. If you really want to set your child up for success, you book one on one training with a knowledgeable coach with fewer distractions. This better prepares them, giving them the confidence needed to succeed in getting that back handspring. Private lessons allow them to do about a week's worth of tumbling, in a one hour session. This is why we stand by them.

#1: One private lesson should do the trick?

This one makes no sense to me... Why would a parent believe their child can walk in the studio with very little to no recreational gymnastics experience and walk out with advance skills that takes sometimes years to build? If that was at all possible we would all workout once for an hour and walk out looking like Arnold.

#2: An Early Start Will Win Our Heart

Our private lessons usually last 30 to 60 minutes. So if you’re booked for a 30 minute private lesson, the student shouldn’t be spending the first 10 on warm up. Show up early! We won't charge you for instruction that don't need supervision. Anyone can start their plyometrics, mobility and stretching work, while the coach is with someone else. Just make sure it's a safe spot away from the lesson in session, we wouldn't want them to be a distraction.

This process should take about 15 minutes to complete, after which the actual tumbling class can start, and the time can be spent on what truly matters.

As for the athlete who is scheduled for 5:30 pm? They’ll be told to come in at 5:15 pm at the latest, and be informed that I will already be coaching a private lesson with someone else. They are to do their warm up on the side while I finish up so that by the time 5:30 comes around, we are ready to roll.

One hour lessons work in a similar fashion. The idea is to overlap athletes in an efficient manner.

— Coach Sahil

A Few Exceptions All Parents Should Know: First, don’t confuse basic or fundamental drills that a coach deems necessary with the warm up. If an athlete is doing a private lesson to master their back handsprings, you better believe some handstand work will be expected of them. This is not a waste of time. Second, if you bring your child right on start time (or late), don’t expect the coach to skip warm up or provide additional time near the end. Warm ups are non-negotiable. Finally, if arriving early is not provided as an option to you, then find out why. If the reason is not legitimate, then don’t forget you can take your business elsewhere. Privates are not cheap, and nor should they be. They demand lot of mental and physical energy from the coach. But I do firmly believe that every penny should go towards the training of the actual skill your child needs help with.

— Coach Sahil

#3: Homework?

We all know my philosophy about homework. I really believe in order to get the most out of your private lesson, you have to do your homework. Students are always told three to five things that they could work on at home. We also note what really work for them in class that day, what challenged them, and what they felt really good about. They are reminded to bring their corrections back the next visit, so we can take off from where we were to get to where we want to be faster.

One of the reasons private lessons can be so effective is because you can get in 2x or 3x the number of reps that you can from a regular tumbling class.

And as I’ve written before, reps are the mother of skill. Add to the fact that an athlete can not only experience more reps, but more quality reps (due to the one-on-one attention), and now you have a winning formula.

However, there are certain reps that can be done at home. These include reps of:

The Golden Rule All Parents Should Remember…

Privates lessons are not like vending machines. In other words, you can’t expect to “pay” for a skill on one end, and have it get spit out the other [Tweet This].

Here’s what you’re REALLY paying for: Competence

This might seem odd at first. After all, if you book a lesson for a back handspring, you expect your child to get a back handspring, right?

Sure, but the sneaky thing about tumbling is that it’s hard to predict. Regardless of how much time and effort your child puts in, it’s near impossible for anyone to predict the exact date they’ll have their skill.

Anyone that tells you otherwise, is full of it.

“Getting” a tumbling skill is a consequence of taking the right actions and doing the right things WHILE training. So the good news is that a focus on competence and skill mastery ultimately results in what you want as a parent anyway — your child getting the skill!

See how that works?

Approaching private lessons with the right mindset and attitude can make all the difference for both the parent and the athlete.